Fixing The Bijou
by snowygrin
Summary: What was going through Hailey's mind when his ship unexpectedly took off and found the first reboot in a century? A short Hailey one-shot. Read and review, please?


Hailey ruffled his blue and brown hair, letting his bangs fall limply back into his eyes as he reclined in the pilot's chair. Through the cockpit's sanded windows, he could see the reboot and her lanky alien companion tramping away from the _bijou_. The rest of the landscape was sameish yellow sand. The stupid stuff was _everywhere. _He heaved a hefty sigh, tracing the buttons on the control panels idly.

Part of him wished he was back with the others, in the ship hangars outside of Attica. But, he was stuck on the _bijou, _for now, which was on autopilot. Sitting up, he cursed under his breath. He really needed to fix whatever had caused the ship to come here. He was supposed to be able to control it without worrying about it taking off and going wherever the heck Cadmus wanted it to.

Hailey slumped forward, massaging his temples. It was no use procrastinating like this. He needed to figure out how to get the ship back in his control before the day was over. Hopefully, Ema, or whatever her name was, would be occupied with finding her O-pod. He had explained to her that she wouldn't be able to enter Attica without it, which wasn't _totally _a lie. Sure, maybe she could get her O-pod replaced without much of a hassle, but, she didn't need to know that. The point was, for now, she was busy looking for her omnipod in a 'sand-sniper' or whatever, and he would have at least the afternoon to work on the ship.

As he stood up, stretching, Hailey wondered if his father had ever been in a situation like this during his days as a retriever. Of course, Hailey knew he'd never know. His dad had been dead for a long time. It was a simple fact that didn't bother him much anymore. He had never known Evan Seven very well, so, he didn't feel too attached. Though, he sometimes wished he had a better father figure than the elderly Van Turner.

Brushing some sand off of his flight suit, Hailey stood up and plodded to a small compartment that contained the ship's personal supplies. Once inside the room, the door slid shut smoothly behind him, and a few lights flickered on. "Hello, Captain Hailey. How can I assist you?" The ship greeted in its monotonous mechanical voice. Hailey made a mental note to upgrade the ship's speech program.

"I need two flight suits, some hydration tablets, and Susti-Bars ready. We've got some unexpected guests." He informed the program, crossing his grease-stained arms and leaning against one of the off-white walls.

"Certainly. And what sizes will you be needing?" The ship inquired with little inflection.

"Hmm...good question." He tilted his head, recalling the girl and her strange friend. Chuckling to himself, he reasoned, "Well, definitely a large for the blue guy." He added, "And most likely a small for the girl." Hailey hadn't thought much about the reboot's physical appearance until now, having been distracted by his unfortunate situation. He supposed she was _reasonably_ attractive. But, she lacked certain features and had one heck of an attitude. Plus, she had to be at least a year or two younger than him.

Two pressed and folded flight suits slid out of a panel in the wall, and Hailey grabbed them, picking up the hydration tablets and Susti-Bars as well. With all of these in hand, he sauntered to the ship's cabin, a cramped room with a simple bunk bed. Setting down his load on the lowest bunk, he noticed he'd left a box of his old holographic programs in the room. Automatically, he slid it under the bed. It would be out of sight, that way.

Dusting his grimy hands off with little effect, Hailey exited the compartment and headed back to the cockpit to fiddle with the ship's wires. Pulling on some goggles, he ordered,

"Ship, play track 14 at maximum volume." The _bijou _obliged. With his favorite music blaring over hidden speakers, he bent down to get to work.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a small round object. With his gloved hands, he picked it up, remembering when the reboot had given it to him. What had she called it? A vocal transcoder? Whatever it was, apparently it was supposed to allow him to communicate with aliens, like her Caerulean buddy. Hailey huffed. Why was she so determined to take him along, anyway? He was an _alien. _

Hailey shrugged, setting the transcoder on the chair and clambering under the control panels. If having a creepy weird alien as a companion was her thing, he didn't want to damper their happy relationship.

He worked with the tangle of wires for most of the afternoon. Finally satisfied that he may have regained control, Hailey stood up, brushing himself off, and headed to the electrical panel across from the cockpit. He only needed to throw a few switches now, and the _bijou _would be back in business.

A muffled voice drifted up through the music. "Hailey! Hailey!" It was that Ella girl. Just in time, too. Removing the goggles from his head, Hailey looked down the open entryway ramp to see the reboot staring triumphantly back at him. "Ho there!" He greeted over the music, wiping his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand. _Clone me! It's hot out here. _

Returning his attention to the tangle of wires he was navigating, he asked, "Did you find your omnipod?" The girl made her way up the ramp, "I did." She sounded smug. Hailey suppressed a smirk as she continued. "It was in the stomach of a baby sand-sniper, but I was able to persuade it to give it back to me."

"A sand-sniper, huh? And how were you able to do that?" He flipped one of the switches, disappointed to find no response from the ship.

"I asked it." She replied simply, causing Hailey to look back at her, grinning lopsidedly. _This story just keeps getting better. _"You...asked it?" He mused, shaking his head and returning to the wiry control panel. "Did you ask it for a new pair of sneak-boots while you were at it?"

"I'm being serious!" She sounded agitated now. "Do you know how scary those things are? Look at this bandage on my hand. I was wounded by a sand-sniper."

_Does she actually think I'll buy this? _Hailey wondered. She was probably just wanting attention, since he was the only other human she'd ever met. He decided to play along, chuckling despite himself. "O-kay. Yeah. Sure." He paused a nano, "We'll be leaving just after sunset. So you can hang out here in the galley or go up to the cabin if you want to catch some REM before we take off. Don't forget to tell your blue buddy."

Hailey didn't hear Eva depart, but he figured it was because of his booming music. Humming along, he tapped his fingers on his legs. WHACK! Hailey's head shot up, like an animal alerted by a gunshot. He whirled around, trying to identify the source of the sound. Eva had slammed his omnipod onto the deck table, fuming. "Here's your junky old omnipod back. Not that it helped much."

Hailey switched off the music, confused. What had he done? Hadn't she been happy that she found her O-pod just a nano ago? "Were you out in the sun too long? What's wrong with you?" She hesitated, as if groping for an answer, "You!" She spat. "You're what's wrong!"

"What did I do?" He asked, baffled. Why was she taking out her emotional issues on him? He was the one who had found her in this alien landscape!

"You're not what...You're not like…Ugh!" Throwing up her hands, she gushed, "I've never even _seen _another human. I've dreamed all my life of finally meeting one, and he's...he's.."

Hailey felt his breath catch a little as he balled his hands into fists. Part of him wanted to hear what she had to say about him. "What?" He asked, annoyed, yet a tiny bit curious to hear the answer.

"Just forget it." She snapped, whirling around and starting back down the ramp, but Hailey caught her by the arm before she could leave. Sure, she was tiresome and talkitive, but he _was _the first human she'd met. Maybe he should at least try and be a little nicer. "Look," He said, lowering his voice a bit. "I'm sorry you didn't get the warm welcome and all the attention you were expecting. But I need to finish some stuff on this ship so we can get you to New Attica as quickly and safely as possible. Okay?" He put on a straight face as he said this, but part of him wondered if he'd ever get this ship up and running. _Ugh. Cadmus Pryde, you suck. _

Eva regarded Hailey for a bit, making him feel slightly uncomfortable. It seemed like she knew something was up. Crossing his fingers behind his back, Hailey hoped that wasn't the case.

"Okay," She said finally, causing Hailey to let out a breath he hadn't realize he'd been holding. "I'll go tell Rovee to get our things."

She turned around and tromped out of the ship, her braids bouncing with each step. As soon as she was out of view, Hailey was back at the control panel, leaning his head against it and pounding his fist on the wall with a groan. "Music volume: high." He drawled, seriously irked with how long this was taking. _Well, it's no use standing around doing nothing, _He reminded himself, setting his jaw determinedly. Hailey blew some a strand of hair out of his eyes, and returned to his work.

"Manual Control restored. Fly safely, Hailey Turner." The ship informed a few minutes later. Hailey fist-pumped. Maybe he _could _be a retriever like his dad.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Thank you so much for reading this! I'd appreciate if you'd review. :)

Also, the last bit may be a little off. I haven't really re-read it thoroughly, yet. So, I'll be doing that sooner or later.


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